The plan was to use it either in the current one-day international series against India or in the return series in India next month, but may now be prevented by the outcry it could cause.

Last Thursday two of England’s bowlers – one of them James Anderson – experimented with it during a private net-session at the Riverside ground.

According to a source in the Indian party, who claims to have discovered the secret, it involves the bowler tossing the ball from his left hand to his right hand just before release.

England’s management have reason to expect that the International Cricket Council will move quickly to ban this experiment, if they introduce it during the last four internationals of this series or in India.

And trying this delivery during India’s tour of England, so soon after the Ian Bell incident at Trent Bridge, would be another test of diplomatic relations between the two most powerful boards of the cricket world.

Bell was run out off the last ball before tea on the second day in Nottingham, but England’s management asked the Indian team to withdraw their appeal, which they did, and Bell then resumed his innings.

This new delivery – or, to be more precise, this novelty trick before the act of delivery – may fall foul of Law 42.1 which states: 'The responsibility lies with the captains for ensuring that play is conducted within the spirit and traditions of the game.’

When Stuart Broad tried a variation on this theme, by putting the ball in his left hand and waving it towards the mid-off fielder as he ran in, he was immediately warned by the ICC not to do it again.

More specifically, Law 42.4 states: 'It is unfair for any fielder deliberately to attempt to distract the striker while he is preparing to receive or receiving a delivery.’

In this context, 'any fielder’ can be interpreted to mean 'any member of the fielding side.’ This law goes on: 'If either umpire considers that any action by a fielder is such an attempt, at the first instance he shall immediately call and signal Dead ball and inform the other umpire of the reason for the call.’

After this has happened, the law says, 'the bowler’s end umpire shall warn the captain of the fielding side that the action is unfair and indicate that this is a first and final warning.’

And just to underline how far from worthwhile such an experiment might be: 'Neither batsman shall be dismissed from that delivery. The ball shall not count as one of the over.’

A second attempt by a bowler to bowl this delivery, if the umpires thought it distracted the batsman, would be met with a five-run penalty, while the bowler and the captain would be reported to the governing body.